Perceived Parents' Value Beliefs and Behaviors, Girls' and Boys' Values and Career Plans in Mathematics

• In Event: Parental Effects on Adolescents' and Young Adults' Motivation and Career Plans in STEM

Abstract

Objectives
This longitudinal questionnaire study examined how student-perceived parents’ mathematics value beliefs and conversations with mothers about future occupations affected their gendered mathematical career plans through their mathematics valuing. Reciprocal effects between student-perceived parents’ beliefs and behaviours and students’ valuing were analysed. The study further investigated how these relationships may vary for boys and girls.

Framework
According to the Eccles et al. model of parent socialization (Eccles, 1993; Eccles et al 1983), child’s perceptions of parents’ gendered mathematics beliefs and behaviours influence their own gendered mathematics value beliefs, which in turn affect their gendered mathematics task choices. Only recently research began to analyse how such parental value transmission processes vary for boys and girls (Gniewosz & Noack, 2012; Simpkins et al. 2012). Studies further raised the question whether and how parents’ and child’s beliefs and behaviours are reciprocally interrelated (Simpkins et al., 2015).

Methods
Using longitudinal structural equation modelling, it was analysed in this study how student-perceived parents’ mathematics value beliefs and perceived conversations with mothers about future occupational plans were reciprocally related with students’ mathematics intrinsic and utility values, and through these mechanisms affected students’ mathematics-related career plans. Multiple group analysis was applied to examine the role of students’ gender as a moderator of these relations.

Data
The sample for this study consisted of data from 475 eleventh to twelfth graders (girls: 50.3 %; mean age: 16.77 years, SD = 0.97) that was collected at two time points (start and middle of the school year) from 31 classrooms in Berlin, Germany.

Results
Student-perceived parents’ valuing of mathematics positively predicted their mathematics utility value, which in turn positively predicted their mathematics-related career plans. Utility value marginally significantly and positively predicted conversations with mothers about occupational plans. Mediation analysis showed that mathematics achievement positively affected mathematics-related career plans through utility value. Parents’ valuing of mathematics marginally significantly and positively affected mathematics-related career plans through utility value. For boys only, perceived parents’ valuing of mathematics positively predicted their utility value. For girls only, mathematics achievement positively predicted career plans.

Significance
The findings highlighted the importance of students’ utility value within transmission processes, pointing on the importance of utility-value interventions (Harackiewicz et al, 2012). For educational policy and practice the findings are important as they emphasize that parents should be considered as value socializers in late adolescence. The shown gendered relations highlight a need for further research on the role of child’s and parents’ gender within value transmission processes.

Authors

• Rebecca Christine Lazarides, Technische Universität Berlin

• Charlott Rubach, Technische Universität Berlin

• Angela Ittel, Technische Universität Berlin